Prime minister to build 'a new Japan'

Abe seeks better ties with U.S. and China

Hans Greimel, The Associated Press

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, September 26, 2006

TOKYO -- Japan's new nationalist prime minister, Shinzo Abe, pledged to repair tattered relations with China, bolster his country's long-standing alliance with the United States and overhaul the pacifist constitution after cruising to an easy victory Tuesday in a parliamentary vote.

Abe's roadmap takes Japan down a path toward a more robust military and more assertive foreign policy, delineating a fresh direction for a leader who, at 52, is Japan's youngest premier and its first born after World War II.

While Abe envisions a confident Japan that can step from the shadow of decades of postwar guilt, he conceded that the country's foreign and security policy will still rest firmly on Tokyo's half-century alliance with the United States.

It is a friendship that Japan increasingly hopes will help counter growing threats from a nuclear-armed North Korea and a growing China.

"It is necessary to buttress mutual trust and strengthen bilateral relations," Abe said in his first news conference after being elected by parliament to succeed Junichiro Koizumi as prime minister.

"The Japan-United States alliance forms the foundation of our foreign and security policy."

Key to Abe's push will be revising the constitution, which renounces war as a means of solving international disputes and has formed the cornerstone of Japan's post World War II identity.

To make Japan a more "normal country," conservatives want the constitution overhauled to give Japan's military, euphemistically known as the Self-Defense Forces, greater leeway in contributing to international peacekeeping operations.

Changes would also clarify under what situations Japanese forces might come to the aid of an ally under attack.

Such moves would advance a swing to the right begun by Koizumi, who fought off critics to send Japanese non-combat troops to Afghanistan and Iraq in support of the U.S.-led coalition.

The troops in Iraq have since come home, but as Abe spoke Tuesday night, local media reported that Japan was planning to extend for another year its naval mission to fuel coalition warships in the Indian Ocean.

Off to a fast start in setting up his Cabinet, Abe stocked the new government with conservatives on every issue, from the economy and foreign affairs to defense and women's rights.

Among the new inner circle are Foreign Minister Taro Aso, known for his hard-line stance toward China, and Fumio Kyuma, who took a second stint as defense chief and is expected to oversee the agency's upgrade to a full-blown ministry.

Looking to deflect criticism that his economic policies lack backbone, Abe also rolled out a team of budget hawks that combines academic know-how with experience to keep the recovery of the world's second-largest economy clipping along.

"From today, I will start building a new Japan," Abe said. "The Cabinet I appointed today is one that will create a beautiful Japan."